''Midas'' is an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

era stage play, a comedy written by

John Lyly John Lyly (; also spelled ''Lilly'', ''Lylie'', ''Lylly''; born c. 1553/54 – buried 30 November 1606)Hunter, G. K. (2004)"Lyly, John (1554–1606)". ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 January 2 ...

. It is arguably the most overtly and extensively

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

of Lyly's allegorical plays.

Performance and production

''Midas'' was entered into the

Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. This was a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with England's publishing industry, including prin ...

on 4 October 1591; it was first published in 1592 in a

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

printed by Thomas Scarlet for Joan Broome. She was the widow of William Broome, the bookseller who issued reprints of Lyly's ''

Campaspe Campaspe (; Greek: Καμπάσπη, ''Kampaspē''), or Pancaste (; Greek: Πανκάστη, ''Pankastē''; also ''Pakate''), was a supposed mistress of Alexander the Great and a prominent citizen of Larissa in Thessaly. No Campaspe appears in ...

'' and '' Sapho and Phao'' in 1591; the widow Broome herself published the first editions of Lyly's '' Endymion'' (1591) and '' Gallathea'' (1592). ''Midas'' was probably acted by the

Children of Paul's The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean London. Along with the Children of the Chapel, they were an important component of the companies of boy players that constituted a distinctive feature of ...

, Lyly's regular company through most of his playwriting career. The title page of the first edition states that the play was performed at Court on

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

, probably on 6 January 1590. John Dover Wilson proposed that Lyly himself may have played the role of Midas; but this is a speculation unsupported by evidence. "Obviously" the play was written after the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

in 1588. The play also features an allusion to the

English Armada The English Armada (), also known as the Counter Armada, Drake–Norris Expedition, Portugal Expedition, was an attack fleet sent against Spain by Queen Elizabeth I of England that sailed on 28 April 1589 during the undeclared Anglo-Spanish W ...

of 1589; the authorship of ''Midas'' must date from the 1588–89 period. The student theatre ensemble of Stuart Hall School, located in Staunton, Virginia, staged a production of Midas in 201

directed by Theatre Programme Director, Brett Sullivan Santry. The performers, who ranged in age from eleven to seventeen, rehearsed and performed under the tenets of American Shakespeare Center, Original staging practices from the Elizabethan period. Given the play's extremely limited modern production history, the probability exists that the Stuart Hall production marked the first time the play was staged in North America.

Synopsis

Lyly based his play on the treatment of the

Midas Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

story given in Book xi of the ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'' of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

; he departs from Ovid's version mainly to strengthen the allegorical aspects of the play (see below). He exploits both aspects of the Midas legend in classical mythology – the golden touch and the ass's ears.

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

, the god of wine, rewards the hospitality of Midas, king of

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

, by offering him anything he desires. The king's three courtiers, Eristus, Martius, and Mellicrates, variously advise him to choose rewards that center on love, war, and wealth; Midas accepts the advice of Mellicrates and asks that everything he touches turn to

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. (In the classic legend, Midas is motivated simply by greed; in Lyly's play, Midas wants gold partly to finance his planned invasion of the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

, an idea that winds throughout the play.) In the play as in the myth, Midas's misfortunes with his golden touch follow; his clothes, food, wine, and even his beard all turn to gold. Midas eventually cures himself by taking the advice of Bacchus and bathing in the river Pactolus, which becomes gold-producing as a result. In the second phase of the king's adventures, Midas, hunting in a wood on Mount Tmolus, encounters

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and Pan, who are preparing to engage in a musical competition. Midas thrusts himself into the role of judge, and decides in favor of Pan; Apollo responds by giving the king the ears of an ass. Midas conceals his affliction at first, but the news passes from

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

s to shepherds, and is eventually whispered by reeds to all the world. Midas's sensible daughter Sophronia (a Lylian addition) appeals to Apollo's oracle at

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

for guidance. Midas goes to Delphi, admits his foolishness and expresses repentance; his auricular affliction is cured, and a newly humbled Midas renounces his plans for conquest, especially against the stalwart islanders of Lesbos. The play has a more overtly comic subplot focused on Motto, Midas's barber. Motto comes into possession of Midas's golden beard after removing it from the king's face; but the beard is stolen from him by the mischievous pages that are a standard feature of Lyly's drama. Motto recovers the beard by curing a case of toothache (barbers doubled as dentists in Lyly's era, and for long before and after). But the pages exploit Motto's role in spreading the news about the king's ass-ears: they accuse him of treason, and demand and obtain the beard as the price of their silence.

Allegory

It is universally recognized that Lyly's Midas represents the fabulously wealthy

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

, while the island of Lesbos that he longs to conquer is Elizabeth's England. Nicholas John Halpin, in his ''Oberon's Vision'' (1834), offered a complex and detailed interpretation of the fine points of Lyly's allegory, in which the Pactolus is the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

River in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

; the barber Motto is Philip II's secretary Antonio Pérez, who was banished for betraying royal secrets; Martius is the Duke of Medina Sedonia, while Mellicrates is the Duke of Alva; Eristus is Ruy Gomez de Libra; and Sophronia is Philip's daughter

Isabella Clara Eugenia Isabella Clara Eugenia (; 12 August 1566 – 1 December 1633), sometimes referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia, was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, which comprised the Low Countries and the north of modern France, with her husband Albert ...

, among various other identifications. Critics rarely go so far as to embrace all of Halpin's points, though most concede some of the more obvious, like Sophronia/Isabella.Bond, Vol. 3, pp. 109–10.

References

{{authority control English Renaissance plays Plays by John Lyly 1590 plays Plays based on Metamorphoses